Genesis 11:26

Summary

The verse states that Terah lived seventy years and then fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. It follows the standard genealogical formula found throughout Genesis 5 and 11, marking age at first offspring followed by a list of sons.

Key words

va-y'chi ("and he lived", H2421) — qal verb with narrative vav, the standard opening formula for genealogical entries, establishing sequential narrative time ("and then he lived").

Terach ("Terah", H8646G) — proper name, subject of the sentence, the person whose lifespan and offspring are being recorded.

va-yyoled ("and he fathered", H3205) — hiphil (causative) verb with narrative vav, literally "he caused to be born"; the hiphil stem marks the father's causative role in the birth of his sons, standard usage in Genesis begetting formulas.

'et (H0853) — the direct object marker, repeated three times (before each son's name), untranslated but grammatically marking Abram, Nahor, and Haran each as direct objects of va-yyoled.

ve-'et Haran ("and Haran", H9002 + H0853 + H2039G) — the conjunction ve ("and") appears only before the final name Haran, while the first two names (Abram, Nahor) are joined by the repeated object marker alone without a conjunction between them.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence has two clauses joined by narrative vav: the first states Terah's age (shiv'im shanah, "seventy years", H7657 + H8141) at the time of the event described in the second clause, which reports the fathering of three sons. Grammatically, "seventy years" functions as an adverbial accusative of time, not modified by a preposition — a common construction in these genealogical notices (compare Genesis 5).

The three sons — Abram (H0087), Nahor (H5152H), Haran (H2039G) — are each individually marked by the direct object particle 'et, a repetition characteristic of Hebrew list syntax. Only before the last item, Haran, does the text add the conjunction ve ("and"), producing a structure of "X, Y, and-Z" rather than "X and Y and Z." This distributional pattern (asyndeton before the first two items, conjunction before the last) is typical of Hebrew name-lists and does not by itself indicate any hierarchy or difference in status among the three sons; the order of naming is simply sequential.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) renders the object markers with the sons' names in the ablative case (genuit Abram, et Nachor, et Aran) and inserts "et" before both Nachor and Aran, differing from the Hebrew's asyndetic pattern where the conjunction appears only before Haran. The LXX (Καὶ τὸν Ναχὼν καὶ τὸν Ἁρράν) similarly places καί before both Nahor and Haran, matching the Vulgate's more uniform conjunctive listing rather than the Hebrew's single-conjunction pattern.